1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with improved apparatus and methods for the commercial-scale production of elongated cooked food items such as hot dogs, corn dogs and sausages (e.g., Vienna sausages) without the use of casings. More particularly, the invention is directed to such devices and methods wherein automated injector heads coupled with a supply of meat emulsion create successive, predetermined weight portions or charges of emulsion which are then partially or completely cooked in elongated heat exchange cooking tubes. The equipment is preferably designed so that the products are statically heated using a plurality of tubes so as to achieve a batch-continuous operation. Advantageously, the equipment provides a plurality of cooking tube arrays, and delivers meat emulsion to at least one tube array while also removing cooked product from a second array and applying oil to a third array.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Presently, elongated cooked meat products such as hotdogs, the inner meat portions of corn dogs, and Vienna sausages are produced using casings. Generally speaking, a starting meat emulsion is pumped into a casing, and the casing is twisted in order to initially form the product, followed by cooking and/or smoking to fully cook and gelatinize the protein in the emulsion. The product is chilled and the casing is stripped from the cooked product and is discarded. Such use of casing represents a very significant cost to the food processors. Indeed, many large scale plants purchase several million dollars worth of casings per year.
Attempts have been made in the past to process these meat products without the use of casings. However, these efforts have not met with any significant commercial acceptance. The principal difficulty with these prior devices has been that the products are not equivalent to the typical products made with casings. For example, the products may not have the same shape, color, or texture as the conventional counterparts, and are thus unacceptable to consumers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,890 to Long describes a continuous stuffing machine 30 that feeds a tube 32 which injects emulsion into a coil 10 that is covered by a jacket 12. A heat transfer medium, such as steam or hot water, flows through the jacket in a direction opposite to the flow of the emulsion through the coil 10. Metal-core plugs 36 are also inserted into the coil 10 automatically by a loader 62. The loader 62 has two similar chambers 72, 74 that rotate about a central axis 70 that is connected to a gear 64, which may be driven by an external motor. One chamber 74 accepts (by the use of a hydraulic ram 78) a plug 36 from a supply line 60, while at nearly the same time, the other chamber 72 injects (by the use of a hydraulic ram 76) a plug 36 into a feed line 10c. The chambers 72, 74 rotate and perform reciprocal tasks in repeated fashion. The plugs 36 and the partially-cooked hot dogs exit the coil 10 onto conveyor 52, where the plugs 36 are separated by a magnetic roller 54 from the hot dogs which continue on conveyor 56. The plugs 36 are dropped into a receptacle 58.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,502,018 discloses a system for fully cooking sausages without casings. The system includes a stuffer 14 that forces meat emulsion into a tube which extends through multiple stages 10, 11, 12 of heating. Cooked sausage exits the tube 16 and is carried on a belt 26 through a cooling chamber 13. Cooled sausage exits the cooling chamber 13 and may be cut by blade 32 before being transported by conveyor 36.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,013 discloses a system for preparing frankfurters or sausages by creating a casing from the meat product itself. The system includes a supply tank 2 that supplies the meat product to a metering pump 6 which delivers pressurized meat product to a heating unit 8. The meat product is heated in a cylindrical mold 20 to cook the outer surface of the meat product so that it forms a casing. The meat product is then cooled by the cooling unit 10.
See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,182,211; 3,421,434; 4,726,093; 4,989,505; 5,056,425; 5,118,519; 6,203,832; 6,322,832; and 6,326,039.
Notwithstanding these efforts, no commercially successful has heretofore been devised which is capable of properly cooking sausage-type products without casings and while retaining the appearance, taste, and mouth feel of traditional products.
There is accordingly a real and unsatisfied need in the art for improved methods and apparatus capable of producing elongated, partially or fully cooked meat products such as hotdogs or sausages without the use of casings, while still providing finished products equivalent in all respects to conventional products of these types made using casings.